"Doctor Who" The Shakespeare Code (2007)

Director:

Charles Palmer

Writer:

Gareth Roberts (written by)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (2005)

Original Air Date:

7 April 2007 (Season 3, Episode 2)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Doctor takes Martha to 1599, to meet none other than William Shakespeare in the Globe Theatre...but can he stop the curse of the three witches?

Plot Keywords:

Shakespeare | Spell | Coven | Witch | Queen Elizabeth I

Cast

David Tennant	...	The Doctor
Freema Agyeman	...	Martha Jones
Dean Lennox Kelly	...	Shakespeare
Christina Cole	...	Lilith
Sam Marks	...	Wiggins
Amanda Lawrence	...	Doomfinger
Linda Clark	...	Bloodtide
Jalaal Hartley	...	Dick
David Westhead	...	Kempe
Andrée Bernard	...	Dolly Bailey
Chris Larkin	...	Lynley
Stephen Marcus	...	Jailer
Matt King	...	Peter Streete
Robert Demeger	...	Preacher
Angela Pleasence	...	Queen Elizabeth

Runtime:

45 min | 45 min (50 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Globe Theatre, Bankside, Southwark, London, England, UK

Trivia:

The Doctor previously claimed to have met Shakespeare in the original series episode "City of Death" however his behavior upon meeting Shakespeare in this episode suggests he's never met the man before. The writer of the episode, in an interview, indicated that lines were written to reference the City of Death meeting, but were cut so as not to confuse new viewers.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Doctor witnesses Lynley die - of a psychic attack that causes him to drown on dry land, his lungs full of water - he declares that he has never seen anything like it. In fact, the Doctor has seen a death almost exactly like it in the 1971 serial "The Mind of Evil", in which the victim was, likewise, found dead in a dry room, his lungs full of water.

Quotes:

The Doctor: Mr. Shakespeare, isn't it?
William Shakespeare: Oh, no. No no no. Who let you in? No autographs, no you can't have yourself sketched with me, and please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for your interest, now be a good boy and shove...
[he then notices Martha]
William Shakespeare: Hey, nonny nonny!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Doctor Who Confidential: Stage Fright (#3.2)" (2007)

Better, but still...

This is the second (technically third) episode of Doctor Who Series 3, and by now the series should really be getting into the swing of things, but this episode still lacked certain elements that made the last series so successful. Normally, the 'back in time' episodes with a famous person in (Series 1's 'The Unquiet Dead' with Charles Dickens and Series 2's 'Tooth and Claw' with Queen Victoria' rank among the best episodes of the series, but this is a disappointment compared to them. It was action-packed, thats for sure and it featured a fairly clever recreation of Elizabethan England. However, on the whole, the episode was rather silly and just, not anything really. It was a slight improvement over the terribly rushed 'Smith and Jones', but the series still has a long way to go if it wants to top the amazing series 2.